Worried about blood clots, they conducted an ultrasound in the ER. It was negative. They did a chest x-ray because of my deep cough. Finding a vein for drawing blood and putting in an IV line was a challenge, due to my severe dehydration. They had to call in a specialist, who was glad to have the time and a half.
While I have visited many people in hospitals, both general and psychiatric, I never truly understood before how completely vulnerable and helpless it makes you feel. The loss of dignity, wearing shapeless hospital gowns with rear exposure, and using port-a-potties and bed pans. The claustrophobic feeling of being tied to an IV pole. Being woken up in the middle of the night by beeping monitors which nobody bothers to turn off until you are fully awake and unable to get back to sleep.
Lesson Learned: Don't ignore early warning signs of infection. It doesn't get better on its own, no matter how much you pray.
The infection was actually the least painful experience. Chronic diarrhea due to the antibiotics. A hacking cough like I had a pack a day habit. Endless bloody noses thanks to the blood thinners. My blood pressure, which was normal when I entered the hospital, started to soar. Unfortunately some of the nurses were more interested in taking vitals for their reports than making their patients comfortable.
The most frightening point for me was when my foot started to swell again, after the inflammation had finally started to subside. I was terrified. Sheila, the care partner, saw how upset I was and put her arms around me like I was her own daughter. It was unbelievably kind of her.
On the other hand, the nurse delivered the news there was nothing further they could do, then decided it was the best time to take my blood pressure. I shrieked in pain as she carelessly let the cord touch my inflamed foot. As she tightened the noose around my arm, she lectured me on how I needed to relax.
After I could speak again, I informed her the last thing you want to tell someone is to relax when they're in pain. It has the opposite effect. When she continued to argue the point with me, I told her to get out. Enough was enough.Thankfully, my niece, Brandy, is a nurse and she was able to get them to give me a saline nasal spray to stop my bloody nose and to end the IV solution to help with the diarrhea. She put lotion on my leg to help keep it moisturized and told them to give me cough syrup for my cough. Without her, my stay at the hospital would have been much more miserable.
Now I am home recovering and all I have to worry about is how I'm going to pay the hospital bills.
Lesson Learned: It's important to have a patient advocate who knows the medical system in your corner.
